


Until Death Comes Knocking

by Ellesra



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Naruto
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Dimension Travel, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Master of Death Harry Potter, OP Harry, Older Harry Potter, Pairings to come, Uchiha Massacre, Wacky Master of Death powers, the kids are not alright
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:46:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23920291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellesra/pseuds/Ellesra
Summary: On a random impulse, Master of Death Harry Potter goes to check out an influx of death. It really was nothing more than random chance that brought him here, and yet he has a hard time not to meddle. And besides, why not explore and experience this strange world now that he's here?
Relationships: Harry Potter & Uchiha Itachi, Harry Potter & Uchiha Sasuke, Harry Potter & Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 145
Kudos: 710





	1. Chapter 1

It turned out there actually was something to the “Master of Death” title. 

As he drew his last breath, Harry Potter opened his eyes again to see a shape above him, grasping his arm and pulling him into a seated position. Looking back he saw his body left there, his children and grandchildren still surrounding it.

“This sure isn’t like the first time I died, huh,” he said to the shapeless being. Without answering the being pulled on his arm, and the scenery disappeared around them. They arrived to darkness, stretching out into eternity. To all sides were an endless expanse of these creatures, shapeless but not senseless, all turned to him.

How he knew they were facing him was a mystery. It was not unlike the surety of a dream, where you just knew who someone was even if they didn’t look like themselves. 

He quickly discovered his place in all this.

The Master of Death had one big, simple task: to be what was essentially a manager of the reapers. There was no time in this space, yet he felt it pass as he sent the creatures out to do the work they had already managed fine on their own. Sometimes he would feel a pull as a large amount of deaths happened at once. It was usually smaller clusters of death like massacres or plagues, but one time he had even felt an entire world dying at once. That had been quite the field day for the reapers.

And yet he stayed in his darkness, merely sending the reapers out to do whatever task that was brought to his attention. It took him lifetimes before he suddenly decided to go somewhere. An impulse with no form or shape, and he did not bother examining it closer before he followed the latest thread of deaths. The space around him changed in a way that was not unlike falling into water. He could feel physical sensation for the first time since his death; icy cold as he went  _ through _ something, and then he was standing there. In a world both like and unlike his original, because there was a moon in the sky and houses and humans, and that was more like his world than most of the others he had harvested from.

A person moved through the night, and Harry could feel from the way the spirits still clung to him that he was cause for many of the murders here tonight. Out of curiosity he traced the boy’s footsteps, through the compound where his reapers had already helped the souls along. Only two living left in addition to the killer.

There would soon be none left there, Harry sensed. He watched as the boy stabbed the last two people in the compound, who simply gave themselves over to it. 

“I find it strange that they would just let you kill them,” he said, and the boy whirled to face him. Huh. He had not actually been aware he could be heard, but he was quite clearly present from how the boy was staring right at him. His eyes were wide and swirling red. It felt like the gaze was trying to pull him in.

“Who are you?” the kid asked, and his eyes were widening with fear. It was fascinating how Harry could feel these emotions hanging in the air, physical things if he just cared to reach out to them.

“Well, I’m not really anybody at the moment,” he said, as a piece of metal was thrown straight through him. He looked at the place it had flown through him in fascination. Three deaths were tied to the weapon like red strings, and he felt the connection to those souls so  _ clearly _ . If he just pulled, he was certain they would come.

He wasn’t really here to scare this kid however. Even if he wasn’t entirely sure what he  _ was _ here for.

“I’m just observing, to be honest. Carry on,” he said, waving his hand in the kid’s general direction.

“No. If you’re not here to stop me, then get out. I need to-” He stopped, and his face blanked out. Harry turned to see a younger boy at the door, frozen in place as he took in the scene. There was a whole lot of emotion warring for dominance, and Harry watched them dance in the air, making shapes that in the end most resembled fright.

“Brother, what’s going on?” the boy asked, his voice breaking as he spoke. The other boy seemed to steel himself.

“Oh, there was a terrible person who just came through and killed them all! Your brother managed to mortally wound them, but they got away,” Harry said, and tried to make the tone of his voice suit the occasion. It was hard, as he really had no relation to any of this.

The older boy stared at him for several long seconds as his brother ran over to him and hugged his waist. Harry tilted the side of his mouth up in what hopefully looked like a benevolent smile, and not some crazed person grimacing.

“I think you’d better chase after the perpetrator. I’ll watch after your brother,” he ordered, his voice gentle yet brooking no argument. The older boy straightened where he stood, clearly an instinctual response to taking orders.

“Yes, sir…” the boy trailed off, looking like he was uncertain whether he should attempt once more to kill Harry, or simply do as he was told. In the end he extricated himself from his brother, and crouched down to whisper something in his ear.

Harry didn’t try to eavesdrop. He waited, and was rewarded with the older brother actually leaving the younger with him, giving him a narrow-eyed stare before he disappeared.

These people really were quicker than anything Harry had ever encountered. Unless he counted his reapers, who also had the ability to appear and disappear at will.

Not that disappearing counted as speed. It was clear that this person was moving, or at the very least transporting himself with something different than magic.

He was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of movement. The kid was shuffling over to the dead, his sandals soaking up blood as he moved. He didn’t seem to notice.

“Hey, kid,” Harry attempted. While he wasn’t sure what had happened here, he  _ was _ certain that kids at this age shouldn’t be seeing this kind of scene.

The kid didn’t react, so Harry walked over. He reached out to the child’s shoulder, and tried not to feel bad about the flinch he felt as he touched the blue fabric.

“Hey,” he said again, just as gently. The kid glanced up at him. Harry tried to hold that gaze with his own. It seemed to work, for now.

“They’re-” the kid started, before interrupting himself with a sob.

“C’mere,” Harry spoke, and slowly ushered the kid into a hug. His shoulders were shaking, quiet gasps audible even as he tried to hold it back. Harry gripped him tighter, and the dam broke. The kid grasped at his shirt and buried his face in the crook of Harry’s neck. With one fluid motion Harry was standing straight again, the kid held securely in his arms.

He went out the same way he came in. It was easy to avoid the places where the dead lay; most were in the buildings, and those who weren’t still shone like beacons in his awareness.

That made it necessary to walk in a less than straight line through the compound, but it didn’t seem like the kid noticed. By the time they reached the gates the sobbing had gone over to a light sniffling. Harry could feel a wet spot forming on his clothes.

Talking about clothes; he was only now realizing that he had some on, despite not having thought about it before. A simple black t-shirt and jeans, he observed. It really would have been awkward if he’d been naked, and not realized it before now.

The brother probably wouldn’t have left the kid with him if he was, Harry reassured himself.

“Hey, you!” a voice called. Female, but that was as far as the person could be identified, as they wore a porcelain mask together with clothes that might be a uniform.

“Hello to you too, uhm, officer?” he attempted. There was a moment of confusion in the air before it cleared. So, they were skilled in controlling their emotions, even hidden behind a mask as they were. Interesting.

“Give me Uchiha Sasuke, and I won’t have to hurt you,” the voice said, oddly flat when Harry could see the resolution behind it. 

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. You see, his brother left him here with me while he went to apprehend someone bad. You might want to take a look at the compound, it’s not a pretty sight,” he said. There was a moment of silence as the person seemed to weigh him with their gaze. Then she lifted her hand and made a signal.

Three other similarly clothed people appeared beside her. There was a whirl of leaves for each of the individuals arriving. It was pretty cool.

“Tiger, stay with them. Crow, Raven, with me.”

Three of them disappeared again, including the person who had been talking. The person with the tiger stripes on their mask stayed behind. Silent.

“So…” Harry trailed off. A loud sniff sounded from Uchiha Sasuke. “I think perhaps the hospital would be the place to go for us? I mean, he’s been through a lot of trauma tonight, and I think I heard somewhere that stuff like that can get bad if it isn’t taken care of quickly…” he tried. The person was quiet for a bit. Harry squinted, and he was fairly certain he saw consideration there. Thoughtfulness. But what kind of thoughts were they?

He couldn’t tell.

“That would be acceptable. Don’t try to leave my company, please,” Tiger spoke. They had a deep voice, probably male.

“That shouldn’t be a problem sir. If you could lead the way?”

Tiger started walking, and Harry followed. As he did he felt the last of his reapers leave, finished with the harvesting and on to their next destination. The compound was an empty void behind him, all life removed from it with surgical precision.

As they walked, Harry was observing the city they were passing through. This world really held an uncanny likeness to his own. He had visited Japan a few times in his life, usually on holidays together with Ginny, and many of the houses looked like they were picked straight out of the more traditional towns in the Japanese countryside. Others didn’t. This world had alterations that sometimes were at the edge of being absurd, round towers that looked like they wore hats and flatter buildings with an almost squashed look. Harry was moderately certain this wasn’t entirely Japanese.

The officer was silent ahead of him, walking with a brisk pace. The boy in Harry’s arms had stopped sniffling, and was merely shivering. It occurred to him that he should probably be cold, with how the temperature around them was dropping with the approach of night. He didn’t need to do more than think it before he felt the hairs on his arms stand on end. A shiver went through him, and he held the kid closer to his chest in the hopes of sharing some meager body warmth.

The architecture here was definitely strange. His thoughts on what it was inspired by kept changing by each building they passed. It truly seemed a mishmash of different building cultures, to the point where some of the houses looked like a mix between several. It was almost funny.

They arrived at a large, square building. The front doors were made of glass, and opened up to a reception area. A single breath of the air confirmed his suspicions. They were indeed in a hospital, the smell of disinfectant pervading everything. It seemed to be a universal constant. 

There were seats spread out across the waiting hall, and behind the front desk was a rather tired-looking woman.

"Requesting a room for Uchiha Sasuke," Tiger told the lady. She immediately jumped to action. After a series of "of course" and "rightaway"s, they were directed down the hall and up the stairs to room 204. Harry laid Sasuke down on the only bed in the room. It seemed that Uchiha Sasuke got an entire room to himself. Either that was how the hospital treated everyone, or he was a person of some importance.

Harry grabbed a chair positioned in the corner, and put it down beside the bed.

“Sir, we have it well in hand. You are free to go home,” Tiger told him. Suddenly, the masked person was feeling quite hostile. Harry made sure to send a smile in his direction. The hostile tension in the air gave way to befuddlement.

“Oh, no, I’d like to stay until the brother comes back at the very least. I wouldn’t want to leave Sasuke alone.”

There was a few beats of silence. Then Tiger nodded. “May I ask what your name is?” he inquired.

The question took Harry by surprise. Yes, a name. His original would probably sound strange in this language. He racked his brain for any japanese names that he knew of. "It’s, uh, Haru. Haru… Hatsune?" He remembered that name from somewhere. Something one of his grandkids had been watching, perhaps?

“Haru Hatsune?” Tiger confirmed, and though his voice was void of emotion, Harry got a sense of disbelief from the masked person.

“Yes.” Harry confirmed.

Tiger nodded again, then fell silent.

Harry turned back to the bed. He was startled to realize that Sasuke’s eyes were open. The kid was following the two of them with a pointed gaze, flicking between them with both uncertainty and anger and sadness.

“Hey kid,” Harry greeted, at a lack of anything better to say. It was hard, when this kid was a stranger to him, and he had just seen his entire family brutally murdered. Harry might not care much about the family’s death. The muddle of emotions in this child’s gaze, however, that he cared about.

Sasuke’s eyes turned to focus solely on him, his stare more intense than even the masked person’s aura. Harry held his gaze.

“Where is my brother?” Sasuke asked. Harry nodded, and turned to face Tiger.

“Could you perhaps inquire about that? I am aware you must know as much as we do, but I’m sure Sasuke would feel better knowing his brother’s whereabouts,” Harry intoned. There was a flash of uncertainty from the masked individual.

“I am afraid I cannot leave the two of you. We will have to wait until we get an update.”

Harry looked back to Sasuke. He didn’t seem to accept the answer as it came, but also didn’t throw a fuss about it. Instead he just glared at his hands, curling his fingers into fists.

The three of them fell into silence. Minutes stretched into hours, and Harry occupied his time with sensing what was outside the room they were in. He could feel the people, their remaining lifetime shining like beacons to his senses. He could sense the bodies of the dead, even as they got incinerated or moved or otherwise treated. There were several lives yet to be born, one of which would meet its end in the next couple of days.

Harry had sensed the souls in much the same way, back when he was managing the reapers. Now, however, they were so much closer. So close that he might even send them on their way himself, if he just gave them a little  _ push _ .

But that didn’t interest him in the slightest. The lives would end at one point or another, and it gave him nothing to bring that ending early. Nor did he feel tempted to prolong those lives.

Hours had passed by the time someone entered the room. Sasuke had fallen into a fitful slumber, and Tiger had barely moved an inch from their position by the door. Harry looked up as the door slid open, and saw barely a blur before the brother was there. He stood beside Sasuke, staring at him intently.

There was quite the family resemblance to that stare.

Following behind the brother were more masked figures.

“Haru Hatsune, please follow us,” one of the masked figures said.

Harry was impressed. Tiger hadn’t left the room since Harry told him the made-up name, and yet these guys already knew it. The wizards of his original world would be hard pressed to match that, even with the many types of eavesdropping spells available.

“Certainly. I wouldn’t want to disturb these two, anyway,” he said, and rose from his chair. The brother took a pause from staring at Sasuke, and turned his intense gaze towards Harry. Those eyes followed him out of the room, and Harry could physically feel when the closing of the door broke the line of sight.

The figures escorted him down the hall, then up several flights of stairs. His suspicions were confirmed when he was brought into a plain room, with only a single chair placed in the centre of it.

Only one of the figures had guided him into the room, and she made him sit down before she, too, vacated the space. Harry was left alone, though he could still feel the entire party of masked figures just outside the door.

Not much changed with his new point of view, and he once more took to observing the movement of the lives around him. His awareness stretched until it encompassed the village, the multitude of lives just tiny specks contained within the village borders.

Harry closed his eyes, and shut his senses off for a moment. Sensing them all at once was overwhelming in a way that seeing them from afar wasn’t. Had he still been alive, Harry was certain he’d be nursing a killer headache for his troubles.

“Haru-san?” a voice said, and something about the way it spoke told Harry it wasn’t the first time someone had tried to gain his attention. His eyes snapped open to see a tall, blond man. This person was completely free of a mask, though his face was still hard to read.

“Hi, yes, I apologize. I zoned out a bit there,” Harry said, as he took in the man’s stance, his clothes, and his sense of deep patience. This person was somehow different from the rest. Harry wondered idly if they were going to attempt torture on him.

“Very well. Haru-san, we have some questions that we’d like you to answer.” The man paused, and Harry nodded in response. “Haru Hatsune is your full name?”

“Yes,” Harry answered, and wondered whether they could sense a lie in the same way that he could sense that the man was testing him.

“So your last name is Haru, and your first name is Hatsune?”

Harry blinked. Oh. “No, Haru is my first name. I’m sorry, I’m actually a foreigner,” he admitted, and the man looked taken aback. “May I ask what your name is?” Harry posed.

“I am Yamanaka Inoichi.”

It sounded a bit like the name should mean something to him. Harry just nodded again, waiting for Inoichi to continue the questioning.

“How do you know Uchiha Itachi?” he asked.

“That’s the brother, right? I don’t actually know him. I just came into the compound and met him, really,” Harry answered.

“And how do you know Uchiha Sasuke?”

“I mean, I carried the kid away from the compound. He came in and saw all those people dead. Not really good for child mental health,” Harry said, and tapped his head to illustrate his point. Inoichi didn’t frown at him, but Harry understood that the desire to do so was there.

“Did you know any Uchiha prior to tonight?” Inoichi continued his questioning.

Harry had to think for a moment. Did sending a reaper to harvest someone’s soul constitute as knowing them?

_ No _ , he decided.

“First Uchiha I ever laid eyes on was Itachi and Sasuke, and of course those dead ones, if they were Uchiha that is.” Harry paused for a beat. “Were they Uchiha? I kinda just assumed they were Sasuke’s family.”

That frown was getting even more prominent on Inoichi’s not-face. Mental face?

“They were. His entire clan got slaughtered tonight. Do you know who was responsible?”

“There was this guy that Itachi was fighting. Or, I’m pretty sure they were. You guys move crazy fast, you know,” Harry said, and grinned. 

Inoichi nodded, and seemed like he was reaching some sort of decision. “Hatsune-san, I will be using one of my clan’s techniques. Please do not resist. That will make everything easier for the both of us.”

Harry blinked at the blond man. Then, as he saw hands move impossibly fast, he realized what was happening.

_ Legilimency _ . These people knew how to read minds, or something very close to it.

With fascination, he watched as Inoichi finished his hand signs. Then Harry saw the man’s body go limp.

He didn’t notice any difference.

Seconds stretched into minutes, and he frowned. Looking at Inoichi’s body, and how none of the masked people found this irregular enough to come storming in.

Harry had never been particularly good at occlumency, but at least he  _ had _ felt it whenever someone invaded his mind. Legilimency might be powerful, but it was not subtle. At least not if the person was reading more than your surface thoughts.

The question was just whether he was supposed to feel this happening or not. Turning his attention away from his own mind, Harry examined instead the strange way Inoichi’s life force was acting. The man was not supposed to die yet, and still it was clear that he was away from his body, only kept to it by the slimmest of tethers. But where did he go?

His eyes followed the tether, to where it seemed to go  _ into _ him. It did not come out on the other side.

“Uhm, hello? I think something’s wrong with him. He just collapsed.”

Immediately three masked people appeared. One bent down to feel Inoichi’s pulse. The other two just looked ready, though they themselves seemed uncertain what exactly they were ready for.

The tether looked almost physical. Harry frowned, and reached up to brush it with his fingers. What if he just…

He tugged it. Immediately, Inoichi’s eyes blinked, and he pulled in a huge gulp of air.

“What in…” he trailed off, sitting up and staring into space for several long seconds before his eyes suddenly snapped to Harry.

If looks could penetrate you, Harry was certain that this look would.

“What are you?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sarutobi should have retired years ago. Sacrificing himself for the village would have been much easier than this.

There really were no words to describe the headache he was sporting. Not for the first time and probably not for the last, he wished dearly that he had gotten retired years ago. A tiny part of him that he quickly squashed blamed Minato. Sacrificing oneself to the village would have been much easier than dealing with the cacophony of voices telling him to act. Of course, not a single one of them agreed on what that action should look like.

In the last twenty-four hours the village had seen a massacre of one of its biggest clans. Not only had it partially been executed by one of its own; they had also found that there were two high-level unknown ninjas in their midst, one of which had enacted the second half of that massacre. The other individual had somehow come into the midst of it too, despite not a single person in the village knowing who he was, what he wanted, or _what_ he _was_.

From all of this, it had also come to light that it was one of his advisors who had ordered the massacre in the first place.

It was chaos, and the Sandaime would readily admit he hadn’t the faintest idea what to do about it.

One thing was certain. He would have to establish a truth, what with the amount of contradicting tales going around the village. It was important that the village came together instead of ripping itself apart. There was no saying who might come knocking if word of the chaos reached the other villages.

With a final drag of his pipe, Sarutobi Hiruzen got up from his chair. He stretched, feeling his back crack in many places that it hadn’t when he was younger. Then he walked out of his office, through the hallways until he found himself outside the grand double doors of the council room.

Inside, the village’s clan heads, the elder council, and the civillian council were all assembled.

The Sandaime motioned towards his team of ANBU, all of which had been informed what would happen here. He saw the captain signal the team’s readiness from the corner of his eye, and squared his shoulders before walking into the room. Silence fell in the council hall, all of those assembled immediately turning their heads towards him. Sarutobi made sure not to meet anyone’s gaze as he entered. Instead he strode to his customary seat, and only once he was seated did he turn his gaze towards the assembled parties.

All of the clan heads were present, even the newest clan head of the Uchiha. It was clear that this had caused quite the fuss, as several were sneaking glances at Itachi.

The elder council was complete as well. Sarutobi made certain not to pause over anyone in particular, though he knew that Danzo was annoyed at having been denied a personal meeting earlier that morning. The other two were glancing between them uncertainly, and Sarutobi knew they must be wondering what was going on.

The civilian council was short by two heads. It would not matter much in the end.

“By now, I believe you have all heard of the ill that has befallen the Uchiha Clan. We have all failed the Uchiha when they needed us the most, none more so than I. However, we do not yet have time to mourn their deaths, as the perpetrator still walks among us.”

A tense silence fell over the gathering. They were all eyeing the others with calculating looks, attempting to figure out who he might be referring to.

Sarutobi let his gaze pass by each of them, ending on Danzo. “Shimura Danzo. You stand accused of conspiring against Konohagakure, colluding with our enemies, and devising the fall of the Uchiha Clan. Do you have anything to say in your own defense?”

Every single eye turned to the council elder. He stood from his chair calmly, and eyed them all with a look of pure contempt.

“This is lunacy. I, more than any of you, am loyal to Konoha. Not a single person in this room has shed more blood for the good of this village. What proof do you have of your accusations?”

As people started whispering among themselves, Sarutobi raised his hand to silence them.

“Sit down, Danzo. We have a line of testimonies to go through, before our council can reach a verdict on your crimes.”

Danzo did as he was told, though the expression on his face was absolutely furious.

At the Sandaime’s nod, Itachi rose from his seat.

This was going to be a long day.

\---

Hatsune Haru had been contained in a T&I interrogation room for twenty-four hours, and Inoichi didn’t know a single thing about the man that he felt was trustworthy information.

They had gone through every trick in the book. The same questions were asked over and over, and they received mostly the same answers. He himself had attempted to go into Hatsune’s head, and failed. Several people had tried their hand at torturing the man.

If not for their attempt at torture and other interrogation techniques, the man’s answers would have seemed entirely truthful. Hatsune Haru was answering every question they gave him, even if the things he said weren’t always straight-forward.

However, torture didn’t work. Whenever the man let them hurt him, he didn’t bleed, and he didn’t feel pain. When he didn’t cooperate with their torture, their knives and needles simply went straight through him.

What baffled Inoichi most of all was that the man didn’t just _leave._ Why stay and put up with their questioning and poking and attempts, if he could simply walk straight through the wall? 

When the council meeting finally drew to an end, Inoichi approached the Sandaime.

The old leader looked ten years older than he had just yesterday. Inoichi wished he could leave the matter for a later date. He did feel, however, that this matter could only be postponed if Sarutobi declared that it should.

“Sandaime-sama,” he intoned, bowing his head as he came closer. The man waved away his politeness, clearly wanting him to get to the point.

“The… Hatsune Haru, has proven impossible to interrogate. I fear it is down to your judgement what we should do with the man,” Inoichi posed, keeping his frown well off his face. The last thing the Third needed was for other people to weigh him down at this point.

“The person from the massacre, yes. Let’s go to my office, and we can discuss it in private,” the Sandaime said tiredly, and led away from the long ears and even longer eyes of the other clan heads. 

As they entered the Hokage’s office, the problem kept churning through Inoichi’s mind. A person they couldn’t contain. How would one deal with such a thing?

The Sandaime sat down in his chair, and Inoichi started reporting on the interrogation. 

It was strange to talk about his attempt at the mind transferral technique. It felt as though it was just a dream he’d had several weeks ago, not an event that transpired just last night.

“It was nothing like going into a mind. Where I ended up… There was nothing there, and yet I felt things staring at me. I had no idea of time while I was in this place. From the report I got later I learned that I was gone for close to half an hour.” Inoichi trailed off, and had to force his mind not to go back there. It was indescribable and terrifying, that endless emptiness. 

He gathered himself, and continued. “We have attempted torture, but Hatsune doesn’t seem to feel any pain, even if all his senses are in order. He does answer most of our questions, but it’s impossible to know how much of what he’s saying is true.”

Another pause. Sarutobi was smoking his pipe while looking thoughtfully out of the window. He wore a heavier frown than usual.

“At this point I am uncertain what to do with the man. It is clear that he is only humoring us. We can only guess at how long he will continue to do so. And when he gets tired of it…”

Inoichi trailed off once more.

“You are afraid that pushing him further will make an enemy of him. Are you suggesting we let him leave?” the Hokage confirmed, still not looking at him.

After a moment of deliberation, he answered a simple “yes”.

Sarutobi turned towards him. “I’d like to talk with him first.”

While Inoichi felt his entire body grow cold at the thought, he nodded. The Hokage rose from his seat. Every step towards the T&I department felt like a condemnation, and Inoichi feared he might be making the biggest mistake of his life.

When they entered the department he was almost surprised to see everything still standing. The two of them walked through the halls, 

Everything seemed perfectly ordinary. Nothing was on fire, and no one was screaming.

Actually, that was practically abnormal in this department. Inoichi didn’t pause, but simply walked straight into the interrogation room of one Hatsune Haru.

The man was sitting in the same chair he had occupied the entire time he’d been there. Opposite him sat Anko, leaning back in a chair of her own. She was grinning widely, and Inoichi just knew she’d found this new case a challenge to be broken.

“Out,” he ordered. Anko pouted, but did as she was told. As she left she threw the Hokage a curious look, and only just remembered to give him a half-bow of respect before she passed through the door.

Luckily Sarutobi knew his subjects well enough not to take offense. The old Hokage sat down in the chair that had been left vacant, putting on his grandfatherly front as he did so.

For the first time since he walked into the room, Inoichi turned his attention towards Hatsune. The man was eyeing the Sandaime, his face showing an unguarded curiosity.

“My name is Sarutobi Hiruzen,” the Sandaime introduced himself.

Hatsune gave an answering nod. “Hatsune Haru, though you probably knew that already.” The man’s lips slanted upwards in an unabashed grin.

“Indeed I did, Hatsune-san. I am here because I am wondering what your intentions are. You have wandered into this village entirely unseen, and just happened to be there at the end of a massacre. What are your plans, once you get out of this room?”

Hatsune looked thoughtful. His grin dimmed as he stared into the air for several long moments.

“You see, uh, Hiruzen? Yes. Well, I don’t really have a plan. It was very random that I even ended here. But it would be nice if Sasuke didn’t didn’t have to face more trauma right away, or that Itachi didn’t have to kill anyone else. He didn’t seem to like it much.” Hatsune shrugged, and placed his chin on his palm. “But really, in the end it won’t change much.”

Sarutobi was frowning. 

“Change much of what?” he asked. His voice was dangerously low, and Inoichi just knew it wouldn’t matter. He was certain not even the full wrath of the Hokage would faze this man.

“Oh, you know. They’re all going to be dead in the end. Whether they lived good lives up until that point won’t really matter,” Hatsune answered noncommittally.

Once more, Inoichi was certain he could not trust what Hatsune was saying. The man was putting himself up as an uncaring thing, and yet he had spent hours at Sasuke’s side. He could have left the moment ANBU showed up, and yet he hadn’t.

Nothing about this person made sense, and for once Inoichi wasn’t keen to get to the bottom of it.

“Then you have no idea what you’ll be doing once you leave here?” Sarutobi confirmed.

Hatsune shrugged again. “I imagine I might just wander around for a bit.”

A contemplative silence fell between them. After more than a minute of the two of them merely resting their gazes on each other, the Sandaime spoke again.

“Then, would you like to work for me?”

Inoichi froze where he stood. He hadn’t been moving, but now it felt like his entire body was lead, his heart hammering like a drum in his head.

_No_.

“What kind of work are we talking?”

“That depends on your skill set. It seems like you are capable of quite a bit, and that no one has really seen the true depth of what you are capable of.”

Inoichi wanted to interrupt, to insist that this is a _terrible_ idea. His training stopped him. One does not simply speak against a commanding officer during a negotiation. If a _Hokage_ decides something, speaking against that decision can be counted as treason.

So he kept his silence, even as his mind kept reminding him of that empty space, even as his body insisted that he was still being watched by those beings, whatever they were.

Hatsune cocked his head to the side, and looked _intrigued_.

“I suppose it could be interesting to stay a bit longer.”

\---

Hiruzen had posed a pretty relevant question. As Harry wandered the streets of Konoha, free from the stuffy interrogation room and the weird blond interrogation boss, he pondered what his plans actually were. Technically, he already had a job and a task. He did feel a thorough certainty that the reapers were doing their job as well as ever in his absence. There was no reason why he couldn’t spend some weeks or months or years in this place. The only question was what he wished to do here.

From what he knew by now, this village was based primarily on ninja doing work for money. The thought was baffling, and yet it somehow also made complete sense. If Harry’s original world could have a wizarding society, why couldn’t this one have a ninja one?

Of course, being a ninja was clearly a much darker occupation than being a wizard. Their attempt at torturing him for being a stranger proved that.

Harry walked, through crowded streets and empty streets, through apartment locales and markets. At one point he was fairly certain he passed the place where he had first appeared in this world. He walked, until he came to a place he’d already been. His path had become a circle, through random choices and following roads to their ends. With a sigh Harry looked around for a concrete destination.

It was his nose that decided it in the end. He had not eaten since his death, and had not felt hungry since. That did not stop his senses from finding a source of food and following it. His feet carried him to a stand, with a disk and barstools at the front of it. There was only one customer currently there.

Harry took a seat.

“Welcome! What’ll it be?” a tall man asked, wiping his hands on a linen towel as he turned towards Harry.

Eyeing the menu, Harry quickly discovered what was wrong with this scenario.

“I’m sorry, I don’t actually have money. I could do you a favor in exchange for a taste, or I can just leave if you’d prefer,” he offered, smiling apologetically. The man frowned, and gave him a proper stare. One of those that were for figuring things out. Harry waited patiently.

“You’re not from around, are you?” the vendor questioned.

Harry shook his head.

“Well then. Tell you what,” he said, and lowered his voice significantly. “If you take that kid to the playground after he’s done eating and then make sure he gets home safe, I’ll let you eat your fill for today,” the man offered.

Harry’s eyebrows rose. Babysitting? Well, he could certainly manage that.

“Sure, that shouldn’t be too hard. What’s his name?”

The food vendor gave a nod, seemingly satisfied.

“His name’s Naruto.”

Once more, it felt like this person was saying something of significance. Like he should know who this kid was, somehow.

Meanwhile, the kid didn’t seem to care about a single thing other than the bowl in front of him. He was inhaling noodles like it was a marathon. Harry felt impressed despite himself.

“That’s some impressive noodle-eating skills you’ve got there, kid,” he complimented. The boy glanced up, noodles hanging limply out of his mouth. He was staring at Harry in a way not unlike he’d gotten busted in the act of vandalising a house.

“You talkin to me?” he asked.

Harry grinned. “Yeah, I don’t really see any other noodle-eating people around.”

At that moment, the vendor put a bowl in front of him. The kid also got another serving.

“Seems like I’ll have to try and give you some competition,” he said. The kid squinted at him. Then he dove at his dish, continuing to slurp noodles with gusto.

Harry would have started on his own, except that there wasn’t a fork or spoon available. Instead, there were chopsticks.

Harry couldn’t even remember the last time he’d eaten with chopsticks.

Holding a wand throughout one’s entire life did not prepare one for chopsticks. Harry fiddled with them for a while, and was rewarded by managing to get one single string of delicious noodle in his mouth.

It really was delicious.

Something entered his vision, and he looked up to see the vendor holding a spoon in his direction. He laughed. “Thanks, I’m not really used to these.” 

The kid was staring at him. “Who don’t know how to use _chopsticks?_ ” he asked. Harry threw a glance at the kid’s bowl. _Both_ the bowls were empty.

Yeah, he was definitely impressed.

Harry started eating. It was incredibly good. He hadn’t ever tasted anything quite like it.

Halfway through his dish of noodley soup Harry looked up to see both the kid and the vendor looking at him. He grinned. “Have I got something on my face?” he asked. The vendor just shook his head and continued with whatever he was doing. Naruto, however, kept staring.

“Your name’s Naruto, right?” Harry asked as he was getting close to seeing the bottom of his bowl. There was quite a bit of noodles left, as getting them onto the spoon proved a challenge.

The kid weighed him with a look before answering. “Yeah, what of it?” he answered defensively.

“I’m Haru. Nice to meet you.”

Naruto’s suspicious look faded a bit, to be replaced with a grin.

“I’m Uzumaki Naruto! I come here every day cus this place is the best!” he enthused, and pumped a fist into the air. The vendor cleared the two bowls, and Harry could see there was a fond smile on his face.

“Yeah, I can see why. That was the most delicious thing I’ve had in a long while,” Harry complimented. He could see Naruto’s grin getting wider by the second.

“Hey kid, you know this village pretty well, right?” he asked. Naruto nodded. “Would you mind showing me around?”

Naruto drew back a bit and threw a look at the vendor. After getting a reassuring nod at his glance, Naruto’s grin returned with a vengeance. “Sure thing! I can show you all tha best places around, believe it! An’ I even know some places that geezers like you will enjoy as well,” Naruto boasted. Harry got off his stool, and Naruto immediately jumped off his own.

“Bye Teuchi-jii! Please have more leftovers for me tomorrow too!” Naruto said, his volume louder than necessary seeing as the vendor was standing right there. Teuchi looked used to it, and merely waved.

“Okay! What do you wanna see? Have you been on top of the Hokage mountain? It has a great view, an’ people get really mad when you do somethin’ up there!” Naruto told him as they started walking down the streets, the mountains ahead mostly hidden by the silhouettes of the buildings.

“That sounds great Naruto. I’d love to see it.”

They walked for the good part of an hour, keeping a leisurely pace even as Naruto sometimes ran ahead. The kid seemed to have a great amount of energy, and acted not unlike an excited puppy. Harry contemplated the kid as they walked, Naruto explaining whatever buildings they passed and Harry nodding along.

Naruto was somehow different from the other people in Konoha. As Harry eyed the shape of his life, there was something distinctly strange about it. Not because it would be extraordinarily long or short. No, from what he could tell, Naruto would live an average length life, even if Harry couldn’t judge any particulars of it just from looking.

The thing was, Naruto’s life wasn’t the only life he could see. This was unlike seeing pregnant women, where the two lives were still separate, even if one was contained within the other. This was more like Naruto was entangled with someone else, or _something_ else.

It was curious.

They climbed the mountain, and ended up sitting beside each other on one of the rocky heads. It was fascinating that the village put their leaders into the rock in this way. Harry was somewhat glad the idea hadn’t been thought of in his own world, or the Ministers of Magic would probably have jumped at the notion of having themselves immortalised like this. 

Naruto’s feet dangled over the edge. Harry looked down, and felt his stomach swoop.

“I’m gonna be on this mountain one day, y’know! I’m gonna become Hokage, and then everyone will notice me!” the boy prophesied, in much the same way other kids might wish to be an auror, or a dragon slayer. Harry smiled indulgently. 

The boy stared resolutely into the air, and Harry once more took to examining the way the kid’s life intertwined with another. It was fascinating, especially how that other life stretched on much beyond the boy. So far that Harry couldn’t even see where it began.

Unable to deny his curiosity, Harry reached out to that life. Was it a god? Someone watching over Naruto, and thus entwining his faith with theirs? Or was it a piece of someone’s soul, like how Harry had once contained part of Voldemort?

His fingers brushed the golden light of that life. He saw Naruto flinch, luckily away from the drop before them, before the boy suddenly fell backwards. Harry only just managed to catch him before his head hit the rock.

Harry looked down at the boy, seemingly dead asleep.

Perhaps he should start being careful with how he used his powers.

Or, conceivably this would be the place where he'd explore their limits.

With a shrug, Harry turned back to look over the city as he waited for Naruto to wake up again. Darkness fell, and the lights of windows and streetcorners turned into stars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What, Harry shouldn't just be touching people's souls all willy-nilly? Preposterous!
> 
> On another note entirely:  
> None of you brought this up, but I felt it would be relevant to take up anyway. Harry was a complete unknown, and I feel like Itachi would never in a thousand years leave Sasuke with him if he didn’t have some very valid reasons. Harry could have easily killed Sasuke, or taken him hostage, and that was not a situation Itachi would have permitted. There are, however, other factors:  
> \- Harry did not get affected by the Sharingan. Itachi tried to use his abilities on him, and they didn’t have any effect. This would probably mean that the other living Uchiha in the village ("Uchiha Madara"), would not be able to take Sasuke from Harry. Or so he presumed at least, after he was unable to kill Harry himself.  
> \- Harry gave Itachi an alternative tale that would allow him to stay with Sasuke, and an Order: we know from canon that Itachi follows orders with very little questions asked. That’s simply who he has been made to be his entire life. However, now that he has conflicting orders, he went to the one person who he’d have to obey without question. The Hokage. Who, as far as we know, didn’t know about the Uchiha Massacre beforehand, and only covered it up to protect Danzo and to continue the tale that Itachi started. (every tale needs a scapegoat, and Itachi had already set himself up as that and left the village by the time Sarutobi had any say in it).
> 
> So that’s the answer to a question you guys didn’t ask! Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter. ^^


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And then they were sad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There have been so many lovely comments on this fic. I just want to say once more that thank you! Your words mean a lot to me, and this story wouldn't exist without you guys.

Water surrounded him, murky and impenetrable, impossible to see through. His eyes hurt from trying. So he closed them, and curled in on himself trying to contain the burning of his chest. The liquid was getting darker, and he suddenly realized that if he didn’t fight this, if he didn’t start swimming, he would soon drown.

Naruto started struggling against the water. He’d never gone swimming before, but he wasn’t about to give up. Not now! Not while the villagers still looked at him with their hateful gazes, and his academy class looked down on him, and his teachers tried telling him that he’d never amount to anything.

Quitting now would be telling them that they’d been right.

Naruto just couldn’t stand the thought of them _actually_ being right, not about this.

He started kicking, and immediately found his foot meeting the bottom of whatever well of water he was in.

Using the floor as a spring board, Naruto pushed against it. With that, he erupted out of the water.

His momentum carried him up, and then back into the water again. He didn’t start floating. Instead he was standing, the water only knee deep. It was as murky and brown as before, and Naruto shuffled around in it, confused. There was no hole in the floor around him, nowhere he could have been so completely submerged.

He was surrounded on two sides by walls, the hallway no wider than his body was long. In both directions, the hallway ended in darkness.

Naruto chewed on his thumb nail, thinking. Though there was really nothing to think about, he decided. Whatever direction he chose, he had to go anyway. No other way to go than forwards!

He started walking. The darkness before him stayed just as far away. He didn’t end up _in_ it, surrounded by darkness. Instead, the hallway went on, just as obscured in front of him and behind.

It was pretty creepy. Naruto thought back to scary stories he remembered from the orphanage. Either from the other kids telling him what kind of monsters might come to grab him in the night, or from the caretakers reciting stories of the kind of entities and spirits that would come and punish him for… Well, they never really said. They just told him how they one day would come for him, and what a relief it would be for them.

The story of the _Aka Manto_ in particular was probably what scared Naruto the most. The thought of being targeted by something while he sat on the toilet was just _creepy_ , and Naruto didn’t like the thought of all his skin being stripped off him and stuffed in the toilet. It’s not that it would have been much better if his skin _didn’t_ get stuffed in a toilet, but that little detail did make it extra creepy.

Looking around, there was no toilet for his skin to be stuffed in. There was also no Teke-Teke slithering through the water trailing blood in her wake, or a Jorogumo with webs on the ceiling waiting for him to walk into her trap so she could eat him.

Thinking about this made him walk slightly faster, throwing glances at the darkness behind him that followed him as he moved.

Was it getting closer?

Naruto felt fear hammering in his chest, and his breath was coming out in short gasps.

Then, as he glanced forward, the darkness suddenly wasn’t moving with him any longer. He walked into it, through it, and then he was in a room.

On one side of the room was that same darkness. The wall behind him was whole, and there was no hallway anywhere. It was like the wall had closed behind him. Puzzled, he let his gaze travel the room. Once more the space around him stretched to both left and right, going so far as to be out of view in the darkness. Walking forwards a couple of steps, Naruto saw big pillars come into view. Between them was a gate. It had a tiny paper slip in the middle, super small in comparison to the greatness of everything else. Curiously Naruto stepped closer to see what it said.

As he moved the thing behind the pillars came into view. It was huge, stretching far beyond what he could see. It was also orange, and its fur probably had hairs that were longer than his body.

Stepping up to the gate, he felt his heart give a start as he saw the giant thing _move_.

“Hey!” he shouted. His voice echoed through the room, and the thing in the cage turned to look at him. All Naruto could see was one big, slitted eye, gazing at him through the bars.

“Human,” it growled, so loud and low in tone that it felt like his entire body was shaking with the sound of it. It sounded angry. The thing moved, and Naruto could see rows of very big, very sharp teeth.

“What are you doing in here?” he shouted up at it. The wordless growl that followed his question made his chest feel weighed down, yet at the same time like his lungs would shake to pieces with the reverberation of it.

Naruto stepped even closer, hands reaching for the bars of the gate as he peered through. The great beast was laying down from what he could see, though the head was raised beyond where his vision could reach. The paws had massive claws on them, each claw easily the size of a house. Or a horse. Or at least something pretty big.

“Are you trapped here?” he asked.

Then he jumped away with a yelp, as two rows of teeth clacked together only meters away from where he stood. The monster was really fast!

“Go away, human spawn,” the deep voice dismissed him.

Naruto blinked. He tilted his head, and stared at the creature with a perplexed expression.

A silence stretched between them. The monster apparently grew bored with it first.

“... What.” demanded the beast.

“Oh, uhm, nothing, just that no one’s ever called me that. They’re always going on about demon this and demon that, I don’t think anyone’s ever called me human before,” Naruto admitted, shuffling his feet in the shin-deep water.

It must be really gross, to be laying down in it. Whoever put the guy in here was probably really mean!

The thing released a huff of breath.

“So hey, what’s your name?” Naruto asked.

He was fairly sure the next sound the creature made was a sigh. Hot air rushed past him, and Naruto expected it to smell foul as he pulled in a breath. Surprisingly it didn’t smell much of anything. The air tingled in his nose, and Naruto sneezed.

“Haven’t your teachers told you about me?” the thing asked. Naruto shook his head. The creature moved again, its big eye once more becoming visible.

“Well then, I am the great nine tailed fox, and if you don’t leave me alone I will eat you alive!” the monster said, it’s voice crescendoing in volume as it talked.

Naruto shouted back at it. “You don’t look so great to me! And you don’t even look like a fox!” he told it, though the last bit wasn’t necessarily true. Naruto had never seen a fox before, but he was sure it didn’t look like _this_.

“Puny mite, I’ll show you great!” the giant fox bellowed. It rose up, and Naruto could only see its paws now from how big it was. With a giggle Naruto ran away from the cave.

He heard movement behind him, a rustling of metal, then there was silence again.

Naruto paced a bit by the back wall. Was he supposed to find a way out? Enraging the big fox didn’t seem to be his purpose for being here, because then he would have surely won the game already. So he went off to the side, exploring where the bars of the cage went into the darkness.

A time later Naruto resigned himself to this cage being endless. When he looked through the bars, he couldn’t even see the fox any more!

He started walking back. Then he decided to run, so he went, splashing water on himself and on the cage pillars as he ran.

Soon enough he reached the fox again. At first he saw only one big, fuzzy tail. Then a paw. Apparently the fox had already laid down.

There was movement, and he saw that big eye coming into view again.

“Why don’t you leave?” the fox questioned.

Naruto shrugged. “I have no idea how I got here, and even less idea of how I’ll get out! Do you know the way out?”

A great rumble reverberated through the room.. The eye was steady on him, the slitted pupil no longer feeling threatening. Not that Naruto had felt threatened! But the fox sure had tried to look scary.

“I assume you can just leave. My last prison guard could. Though her prison was also much less… Squalid,” the fox said, and the tone was almost like what ladies with expensive clothes used when the things sold in the market weren't to their liking. The comparison had Naruto stifling a giggle.

He shuffled his feet. Looked around. The darkness still stretched out endlessly on all sides.

“So you’re locked in here?” he confirmed.

The huff of breath breezing past him sounded exasperated. “Yes, or I would have eaten you already.”

Naruto hummed in thought. “So who has the key? You always have to find the key, to get out of the prison and go find the princess, right?” he said, as his thoughts went to the old tales he’d heard. Actually, there was this one about a fox… Didn’t the fox have the key?

“The key is that thing on the gate,” the giant fox said, sounding much less angry suddenly. Naruto squinted up at him, but couldn’t see much more than a big paw at that moment.

“Well, I guess if I just pull that off, we can both get out of here?” Naruto said, looking at the tiny paper on the gate. It didn’t look much like a key, but keys weren’t always keys in the tales either. He stepped towards it, then paused as a strange feeling came over him.

It felt a lot like a stomach ache.

“Ugh,” he groaned, clutching at his stomach. Rubbing at his tummy, he squeezed his eyes shut to try and block out the pain.

When he opened them again, there was a wall in front of him. He was lying down on worn sheets, a familiar smell merging together with the smell of something tasty. His stomach grumbled its emptiness, and Naruto felt that same ache as he had earlier. He was starving!

His entire body felt heavy as he got up from bed. It felt like he’d fallen off a roof or something.

Padding out of his bedroom he quickly found the source of the delicious smell. There was someone in his kitchen, and he was using both of Naruto’s pans to make something. It took him a moment to recognize the man from the night before, his mind slow and unresponsive.

“What’re ya doin here?” he asked around a yawn. He shuffled over to a chair and thumped down onto it, hearing it creak sadly as he did.

The man Naruto had met yesterday turned his head to send him a grin. "Morning," he greeted.

Naruto waved a hand, feeling a bit lost. He'd never had anyone at his home like this before. The old man came by every now and then, but he usually only sat there for a cup of tea before he left again. It was more often that Naruto would come and visit him at his office after the academy was out. Other than the old Hokage... Naruto couldn't remember a single person every having been in his apartment.

As he thought this, the man turned around with a plate in his hand. He put it in front of Naruto.

There was fried meat and egg and potato and bread and beans. It was a strange combination, but the growl of his stomach belied how little he cared about that. As he was handed a couple of chopsticks, Naruto started eating with gusto.

His plate was empty before another even hit the table. He saw with disappointment that it wasn't for him as the guy sat down as well.

"Hey old man, did you... Did you _sleep_ here?" Naruto asked, as he remembered the evening before and how he couldn't actually recall them saying goodbye. Had they come back to the apartment together?

"Hmm, I might have fallen asleep by your table after making myself a cup of tea," the man said, though it sounded more like a question than fact. Naruto squinted suspiciously at him.

After watching the man take a few bites of his food, Naruto spoke again. "Who are you anyway?"

"I told you my name yesterday. It's Haru," he said.

Naruto hadn't actually remembered what the guy's name was. "Of course, I knew that! But who are you _really_? You said you weren't from the village!"

The guy had said a lot of things last night, but Naruto couldn't remember much of it.

"Well, that's true. I'm not from Konoha," Haru said, and kept picking at his food. Naruto waited patiently for him to continue, his leg bouncing and his hand tugging at a loose string on his clothes.

When Haru didn't say anything more after a couple more bites, his patience wore thin. "So where are you from? What do you do? Are you a ninja? Can you teach me a jutsu?"

Haru looked up with a smile. His eyes were very green. Naruto stared into them like it was a staring contest. The man didn't seem to take it very seriously, as he huffed a laugh before returning to his food.

Naruto opened his mouth to keep asking, but the old man interrupted him before he could.

"I don't know what this jutsu is, but I can probably teach you something cool. And I'm not a ninja," he said.

It was clear that Haru was struggling with the chopsticks. Naruto remembered it from last night too.

"You hold them like this," he told him, waving his hand in the air before clicking the sticks together repeatedly. Haru glanced up, and after a few seconds of staring at Naruto he actually corrected his grip.

Naruto could't help but gawk at him.The old man had actually listened. A great grin broke out on his face.

"Yeah yeah! And then when grabbing stuff you just pinch 'em together like this!" he enthused, showing the gesture with his mismatched chopsticks. Haru nodded, and attempted to pick up a piece of meat.

He got it all the way to his mouth without even fumbling. Naruto laughed and clapped.

"You did it!"

Haru sent him a bashful grin. Naruto bounced in his seat.

"Now I taught you something, so now you've got to teach me that cool thing! Even if you're not a ninja!"

He got a nod in response. Then Haru kept eating. Naruto squinted at him, then got up from his seat to check the pans whether he could find some more food. There was a couple of pieces of meat left, and he hurried to stuff them into his mouth while Haru wasn't looking. He giggled as he swallowed, and Haru looked none the wiser.

Scrounging for more, he used his finger to scoop out the leftover red sauce from the beans. There was one tiny piece of egg that had broken off in the pan. Other than that, there was nothing left. Naruto grumbled, and searched his cabinets for more.

His fridge was empty except for a jug of juice that was smelling kind of weird. Shrugging, he took a gulp before putting it back in the fridge. Uck, that didn't taste sweet any more.

In his cabinets, there was only the one can that he'd had for years. He still didn't have a box opener for it.

Muttering under his breath, he sulkily sat back down at the table. The sound of a plate moving against the wood made him look up.

Haru was shoving his plate over, more than half left of what he'd served himself.

"Don't you need to eat?" Naruto said reluctantly. He'd rather just grab the plate, but he also didn't want to be mean. Haru was being nice to him, so he should totally try to be nice back!

"It's fine, I don't need much," the old man told him with a shrug, and grabbed a cup that Naruto hadn't noticed before then. It smelled like the tea that the old man Hokage kept in the cupboards to serve himself whenever he came over. Naruto didn't like it much, so he didn't mind that Haru had taken from it.

Not needing any more confirmation, Naruto quickly scarfed down the remaining food. It felt a lot heavier than what he would usually eat, but it was also good. The heavy feeling didn't stay long, anyway.

Naruto finished the plate, and Haru finished his cup.

"So," Haru finally said, and Naruto jumped in his seat. He wondered what Haru would teach him. Maybe a super secret technique no one else in the village knew? Some cool hiding place that only non-ninjas knew about?

"What I wanted to teach you, well, it's more something I thought we could talk about. And then, if you already knew, I can tell you something else?" Haru said, and Naruto nodded slowly.

"You see Naruto, I have this special skill. And I can see that you're not alone. You have something with you. I wasn't sure if you knew," Haru continued.

Naruto frowned. Something with him? Like a... What did they call it, blood limit line?

"Like a thing I can do? Like some of the other people in class get from their parents and stuff?"

Haru frowned, and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"No, at least I don't think so. More like another life entirely, though it's entirely entwined with yours," Haru said, and pointed at him. Naruto patted himself, but didn't feel anything other than full of food.

"Like... A ghost? Could it be the spirit of..." Naruto's mind immediately went to his parents. Could it be that they were with him? A yearning that he hadn't felt in years suddenly flooded back with a passion. He'd always wondered if they might suddenly find him. What if they were with him?

"No," Haru interrupted his thoughts, and Naruto felt his hopes slip away again. His stomach ached suddenly, for a different reason than it had earlier.

"Oh," he muttered, as Haru continued to talk.

"I know what ghosts look like. I'm sorry Naruto, your parents are-" Haru fell silent suddenly, and Naruto observed how his eyes looked distant. Then a frown entered his face. "Oh, that's not right," he said, and reached out.

Nothing happened, as far as Naruto saw. Yet Haru seemed to be following somethingt, like he was no longer in the same room as Naruto was.

Tapping his fingers against the tabletop did nothing to stop Naruto's heart from running with anxiety as Haru kept staring into nothing.

Then, after waiting for what felt like forever Haru's gaze snapped back to him. Even so, it took even longer before he said anything.

"Your parents loved you very much, Naruto," Haru said, his smile gentle.

Naruto didn't know how to feel about that. Relief and disappointment were fighting for a place in his head.

His face contorted into a grimace, and he started to cry.

\---

Harry immediately felt guilty as he watched the child's face fall from where he had clearly still held on to a sliver of hope. Harry knew exactly how it felt, even if the memory had been dulled by years and years of distance. Even so he remembered that desire, that his parents weren't actually dead. That one day, they would show up like nothing had ever happened and take him away from his cupboard and his chores and his bullies. Hearing that they really were gone had been a horrible blow.

Yet it had also felt so indescribably good to know that they'd loved him. They hadn't abandoned him because they were terrible people, or because he was a freak, or because they simply didn't want him.

Looking at Naruto now, Harry couldn't help but see a bit of himself in the kid. Even if his personality was the complete opposite of what his had been, and even if this was a ninja village where no giant would show up and tell Naruto how he'd been a wizard this entire time.

Well, Harry hoped that wouldn't happen. Ninjas were crazy enough, without the added secret wizardry on top.

Looking at Naruto, his face scrunched up and big fat tears rolling down his scarred cheeks, Harry got up from his chair. Naruto glanced up at him as he approached. When Harry reached out his arms to the boy, the sobs paused and big blue eyes looked up at him in disbelief. Harry merely kept his arms outstretched. Ever so hesitantly, Naruto got out of his chair and stepped into Harry's embrace.

Slowly Naruto gave in to the embrace, until Harry bent down further and scooped the kid up into his arms. Naruto clutched on desperately, and Harry could feel his shirt get wet on the patch the kid's head rested on. For a long time Harry just stood there, shifting a bit from foot to foot as he rubbed Naruto's back and waited for the sobs to lessen. By the time Naruto looked up, Harry had moved over to the big couch in the corner.

"You feeling better?" he whispered. Naruto gave a little nod. Harry could see him glance to the side, but when Harry made no move to put him down, Naruto tucked his head into the crook of his neck. Not unlike a cat, Harry pondered with a smile.

It was hard to tell how much time had gone by the time Naruto crawled off his lap. The kid's eyes were red and puffy.

"Go wash your face," Harry ordered. Naruto gave a rather meek nod, and scampered off to the bathroom.

It was already getting dark, and Harry wondered if he should be leaving soon. He was invading a random kid's life, after all. Then again, it didn't seem like Naruto had anyone else living with him. There were no sign of an adult presence in the apartment, and no one had come to check up on him while Harry had been there. 

There was still the question of what Harry wanted to do. There was really nowhere for him to be at the moment, except-

"Hey Naruto, you up for coming along on a visit?" Harry yelled. There was a responding crash in the bathroom as Naruto clearly dropped something.

Half a minute later, Naruto's head stuck out of the door. His hair was dripping wet. "What?" he shouted back.

"Nevermind. Finish up, we'll talk after," Harry said, grinning as Naruto's head once more disappeared into the door. The sound of water started up again.

Later Naruto came out again with a towel on his head, another towel wrapped securely around his waist. He walked off into the bedroom, and soon came out properly dressed. Harry noted the presence of another orange t-shirt, which had holes along the bottom hem and on one shoulder seam. 

"I was thinking we could go and visit someone, if you'd like to come," Harry said. He noticed how Naruto was fidgeting again. Was it a nervous trait, or was it just restlessness? 

Naruto looked thoughtful as his eyes flitted from place to place.

"Who is it?" he asked. His bare feet shuffled against the floorboards.

Harry shrugged. "Just some people I met the other day. I'm sure they wouldn't mind you joining me," he assured.

Naruto looked up at that, stared at him, and then gave a nod.

With a grin Harry leapt up from the couch. "Alright! Let's go then. We might be walking around a bit, I'm not actually sure where they live now," Harry spoke, and went over to the door to grab his shoes. Naruto ran after him.

Together they walked out of the apartment complex. As expected, Harry felt the presence of four individuals following them. There had only been one the night before, but after Naruto had accompanied him to the Hokage mountain they had increased. Probably because Harry was somewhere he shouldn't be. He didn't know what was special about Naruto, but the village clearly did.

Whatever it was, Harry wasn't going to simply let it go. He was much too curious for that.

On the way through the village, he and Naruto chatted idly as Harry attempted to search for the people he were looking for. It was harder than he had thought. Despite being able to feel every life within the village walls, it was different from searching out one individual. Finding the source of a light is easier when it is alone, after all. Looking at thousands of lights at the same time, it was hard to distinguish one from the other.

Naruto didn't ask more about his abilities, and it made sense in a sad sort of way. It wasn't too strange that Naruto didn't want to speak more about the dead. 

Instead they spoke about Naruto's academy. Naruto talked about the people in his class, about the teachers and about the things they were learning. In return Harry spoke of the friends he'd found during his school days.

"Oh, oh! I have someone really smart in my class too. Her name is Haruno Sakura. She's really pretty too," Naruto said wistfully. Harry grinned, and thought it was cute that Naruto had found a crush.

It was as they walked close by the Uchiha compound that Harry found their target. The two weren't inside the compound, thank goodness, but they were in a building a few blocks over. 

"Ah, here we are. This way Naruto," Harry said, and led the way into an apartment complex. Naruto was looking around curiously, and at times had to run in order to catch up.

They found a staircase off to the side, and after climbing a couple of floors Harry found the apartment they were looking for.

He knocked on the door. Naruto shuffled in place, and looked uncomfortable where he stood. Harry reached over to squeeze his shoulder, and smiled comfortingly down at him.

The door opened. Uchiha Itachi glanced from Naruto to Harry and back again, looking surprised at them being there. Harry grinned.

"Hello. May we come in?"

For a moment, it seemed like Itachi was going to deny them. Then there was a shouted question from inside, and Itachi let out a sigh before stepping aside.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kids and ninjas, in different combinations.

Harry sipped his cup of tea as he watched the two kids argue on the other side of the room. They were practically shaking each other as they discussed something Harry had no background for understanding.

It all seemed to come down to "my role model is better than yours".

Across from him Itachi sat stiff-backed and tense, eyeing Harry warily. It was not such a strange thing. The last time they had seen each other for more than a few seconds, Itachi _had_ tried to kill him.

At that moment, the boy looked way beyond his years. Not only because he was calmly sipping at his own tea; Itachi looked tired. Underneath his eyes were bags that betrayed his lack of sleep, and there was a shake to his hands that Harry could see the boy was trying to mask.

It made sense for anyone to be tired and worn in his circumstances. What truly concerned Harry was that there was nobody else around.

Why was this village filled with kids that had no supervision?

"Can I call you Itachi?" Harry asked, and saw the boy's brief surprise before it went back behind a lack of emotion. Harry could still see the uncertainty there, like a veil around the Uchiha. Even so, it didn't show on his face.

"Of course, Hatsune-san," Itachi replied, though it sounded like he thought it a strange request.

"Just Haru will do," Harry said, smiling in an attempt to lighten it all. Itachi responded with a slight nod.

"There was something I wanted to discuss with you, Itachi. Or rather, something that you might want to talk about." Harry paused. The boy just stared at him steadily. "I don't know the whole story about what I walked in on. I do however know that you've suffered a great loss. If you'd like to talk about it with someone who was there, feel free to come to me," Harry offered.

It was clear that Itachi wasn't going to do any such thing. His expression was still closed off. Harry's gaze went over to the kids, who were still talking among themselves, though much more quietly than before.

"From what I've gathered, your entire clan is gone now," Harry continued. He saw something break in Itachi's facade, and charged on. "It must be hard, to care for your little brother all alone. I know what it's like to be young and left alone with a kid, even though I had a system around me to support me during that time. I don't think you have that."

Itachi was frowning, his eyes shining more than before. Harry wasn't there to make the boy cry, but he felt it was important to let the him know how truly fucked up this situation was. Itachi couldn't be more than fifteen. It was insane that he was left to his own devices after what he'd gone through.

Harry let the silence stretch as he kept sipping his tea. Itachi's hands were clenched around his cup, and that tremor from before had grown stronger.

"It's..." Itachi started, his voice breaking. He cleared his throat. "There are a lot of things I never noticed my mother doing. At home. I never— It wasn't something I needed to know."

Harry nodded, and kept silent.

It seemed like those first words opened the floodgates.

"Even while using chakra to make myself quicker, everything takes _so much time_. I haven't had a mission the last two days, and yet I have no spare time in the day. Cooking and cleaning and washing and looking over the estate and working out everything with the funerals and the clans--" Itachi stopped, pressing a fist against his mouth as his brows bunched together. He was breathing raggedly, and Harry had to resist going over to give the boy a hug. He wasn't sure if Itachi would appreciate it at the moment.

"I need to take care of Sasuke. But I'm just not sure how I'm— This isn't how it was supposed to be," Itachi said, his teeth gritted. 

Harry frowned. "And leaving Sasuke with this would have been better?" he asked. Seeing Itachi flinch, it seemed like he'd hit the nail on the head. Harry sighed. "It's clear as day that you love your brother. I don't think you intended for him to get killed. But leaving him behind to hate you for what happened is probably the most cruel thing you could have done to him. Growing up alone, having nothing else but betrayal and hate left... What did you even think he would become?"

Itachi was staring stonily at the table.

Harry rubbed his brow in consternation. 

After a few seconds of no one saying anything, the kids playfighting in the background, Harry spoke again.

"Alright, it's decided," he snapped. Itachi's gaze jumped to meet his, and Harry could see his whole body tense.

"Naruto and I will move in with you for a while. God knows you kids need some adult supervision," Harry declared. He could see how Itachi went from battle-ready to completely baffled, his bemused expression staying even as Harry kept talking. "I'll watch the kids so that you get to arrange the funerals and such without worrying about Sasuke. And while I'm not a masterchef or anything, you don't have three kids and five grandkids without learning how to keep stomachs full."

Harry nodded to himself, and stood up from his chair. Itachi's eyes followed him as he went to investigate the kitchen.

At least this kitchen was well-stocked. At Naruto's he'd had to beg the guard people to go shopping for him. They'd seemed quite surprised when he'd opened the window and waved them over. Even so, it didn't take much sweet talking to convince the two who'd come. He hadn't really done much more than point out how it would be hard to guard Naruto if he died of starvation.

Perhaps it was actually part of their guard duty. Was that how the boy was still alive? Did his guards come over with food whenever he didn't manage to make it himself? The whole situation was incredibly strange, but that seemed the most likely alternative.

There was no bread in the apartment's cupboards, so the most viable mode of lunch was out. Humming to himself, Harry looked over what he had to work with. A lot of vegetables, eggs, fish and rice. Some cubes that he didn't know what was, noodles and an array of sauces he'd never seen before. 

"I'll just make us some lunch, if that's all right," Harry said, and started chopping things up and putting them in an iron pan that stood on the stove.

Glancing briefly at Itachi, he could see the boy was watching him with wide eyes. Harry turned his back again so that Itachi wouldn't see his grin. He would probably never have taken this many freedoms in other people’s home before, at least not if that someone was a stranger. Yet dying had clearly removed a few of his social graces. Not that Harry was known for being socially adept to start with.

In little time Harry had managed to make what would constitute as a functional meal. He placed out bowls filled with food, and looked proudly at the wok-like mixture of vegetables and fish that he'd made. Naruto came running over before Harry could even announce the meal. Sasuke hesitantly sat beside his brother, who had managed to keep staring at Harry through the entire process.

The kids started eating. Naruto was gulping down food like it was a competition, and Sasuke was glancing between Naruto and his brother like he considered joining, but did not want to appear foolish. Harry smiled as he attempted to wrangle his chopsticks. These kids weren't his grandkids by a long shot, but it still lit a warm glow in his chest to watch them eat and enjoy themselves.

It occurred to him that this was a rather ironic moment. Most people would expect the "Master of Death" to be some kind of edgy guy in a cloak. Harry was glad he wasn't forced to be skeleton pale and have a mohawk or something just because he was supposed to be this dark entity.

Who even decided that death or its master needed to be this dour person who never smiled, that was more skeleton than human? If the universe had wanted it that way, it would have made Snape gather all three hollows instead of him.

For the first time, Harry considered how close Snape had been to that. If Draco hadn't disarmed Dumbledore, and if Snape had decided he wanted to steal Harry's cloak, then perhaps _Snape_ would have been the one to gather the Hallows and defeat Voldemort.

The wizarding world would have been clueless on how they should treat Snape. Harry cut quite the standard hero shape, all things considered. What would an interview between Rita Skeeter and Snape look like? The thought was increasingly amusing to him, to the point where he had to keep from laughing into his food.

He noticed Itachi was staring at him again. The boy looked so incredibly baffled, Harry couldn't help himself.

"Sorry, sorry," he said through his chuckles, "you look like you want to throw me out a window, Itachi." 

The two boys looked at Itachi, one looking confused, the other indignant.

"You're not allowed to throw him out of a window!" Naruto declared.

Itachi glanced between the two of them. "I am intending no such thing Naruto-kun." Then he looked back at Harry. "I am just having a hard time figuring out your part in all this."

Harry chewed on that question for a bit, as well any pieces he was able to pick up with his sticks. After a bite of cale, he shrugged. "I met you, and I wanted to help you. So I did. And then I met Naruto, and wanted to help him. So I attempted to do that as well. I suppose you'll have to ask him whether I'm managing or not," Harry said.

Naruto looked a bit like a deer caught in headlights. His gaze flew quickly between the three others at the table.

"Uhm, I mean sure! You made me food and stuff so that was pretty helpful, I think," he said after a few seconds of thinking time. Harry grinned at him, and Naruto bared his teeth cheerfully in response.

"Then-" Itachi started, but a flicker of his gaze that was almost quicker than Harry could detect hinted that his next question was unfit for children's ears.

The question came later that night, after the kids had gone to sleep. The two had reluctantly shared a bed, and ended up chattering in whispers for a long while after Itachi shut the door to the bedroom.

Itachi settled beside Harry on the couch, and though he looked more relaxed than before, Harry was certain that he could leap into action at a moment's notice. Perhaps that was just a ninja thing.

"What are your plans in regards to Naruto?" Itachi asked, and he was surprisingly abrupt for how every sentence of his had seemed calculated and considered before.

Harry blinked at the boy, opened his mouth to answer, and was interrupted by Itachi. "You said you wanted to help him. I need to know what that means." There was something steely in his voice, a reflection of what Harry saw when Itachi looked at Sasuke. Harry wondered for a brief moment if Itachi had a weakness for children, but quickly discarded the notion. There had been plenty of children lying dead in hidden corners and on open streets in the Uchiha compound.

It's a hard question to answer, especially considering Harry hasn't quite figured that out for himself.

"I think you've already figured out that I don't belong here. That doesn't mean I can't make some good changes before I leave," Harry explained, as he tried to ponder the question for himself.

Itachi breathed out harshly. He was looking uncharacteristically chagrined.

"You can't just come into people's lives and change them to your whims. That's not how the world works," Itachi hissed. He was still sitting in the same position, but Harry could see his hands clench and unclench as he stared at the table. If looks could kill, that poor table would be ashes by now.

"Gods and fates change your life all the time. Why can't I do the same?"

Itachi gritted his teeth. "But you're not—" he said before his expression smoothed out. The boy stilled completely where he sat.

With a shrug Harry got up from the couch. He thought he knew what kind of understanding the Uchiha had just gotten.

"I am going for a walk. I think you should go to bed. I'll be back soon, hopefully."

He received a nod in return, though he didn't think it likely that Itachi would just go to bed like that. Either way, Harry smiled benignly at the boy before walking out the door.

His feet carried him out of the building, into the darkened streets of Konoha. Harry was not in a hurry, and as such merely walked leisurely through the stillness of a village sleeping. Even with the silence, Harry could still sense people moving through the darkness. A ninja settlement never sleeps, isn't that something people might say?

It took him around twenty minutes to reach his destination, and was unsurprised to find four people already waiting for him there. They were all masked in the same manner as the ninjas he had met on several occasions, with white porcelain masks and similar body armor. Only one of the four was someone he had met before: the man of the designation "Tiger".

"Greetings," he said, not overtly loud, yet clearly heard by the way he saw their shapes shift in the dark.

"Hatsune Haru," one of the ninjas said, stepping out of the dark and into the lights of the sparse street lighting, "we are the team that will be accompanying you on the mission you have received from the Hokage," the man explained.

Harry nodded, and the ninja continued.

"Your task will be to guide us while staying at the back of the group. The Hokage has informed us that your sensory abilities will be able to locate our objective."

Harry nodded again. It didn't seem like he would have to do a lot of explaining. The Hokage had clearly briefed them on his capabilities already.

It would be interesting to see how this unit worked.

"Good. Follow me."

The man started walking at a brisk pace, and Harry hurried to keep up. The three others were at his back, silently following.

"So. What do I call you guys? I have met Tiger over here, but the rest of you I haven't been introduced to." Harry spoke after they'd walked for a while, the Hokage mountain becoming an ever greater shadow before them. 

None of the ninjas hushed him, so it must have been fine.

"I am Hound. They are Monkey and Cat."

Hound didn't motion as he introduced them, but it was clear by the masks who they were. Harry hummed in response.

They once more fell silent, and Harry wondered idly where they were going. The Hokage had not been terribly specific on what kind of job he'd had for Harry, and he'd frankly not been curious enough to ask. Sometimes it's better to be surprised, after all.

As they walked it became clear that they were not taking the path up the mountain that Naruto had shown him the day before. Instead they were getting so close to the mountain that it was blocking the sky from view, the cliff face looming over them. 

By the time they reached the rock face, Harry had already given in to his curiosity. He had stretched his senses out, trying to figure out just what the Hokage had wanted him to find for the small ninja team he was accompanying. 

_Oh._

_Another ninja village inside the mountain?_

They were clearly not on the lookout for just one individual. Inside the mountain Harry found what must be a good fraction of the village’s inhabitants. 

The group stepped up to a rocky outcrop that didn’t stand out in any way. Hound continued walking, until he was walking right through the illusory mountainside.

Harry didn’t hesitate to follow, his many years of stepping onto the Platform Nine and Three-Quarters assuring he did not so much as flinch. Monkey stepped through easily as well, while Tiger and Cat hesitated. Not in such a way that it would be noticeable to just anyone, but since Harry was keeping a sense of them he noticed Cat glance off to the side, and Tiger breaking pace for half a step.

They all stepped into complete darkness. Monkey grabbed his shoulders, steering him when he faltered. Somehow the four of them were seeing in the dark. Despite his other senses, Harry did not have a perfect awareness of the space around him.

He did have a feeling that he was phasing through whatever rocks he should have stumbled on. His feet fell wherever he believed the ground to be, and at times there was a feeling that resembled a blade of grass or a feather sliding against his skin. By the way Monkey’s fingers grew tense at those moments, Harry assumed the man saw it happen too.

He really should have seen this problem coming. With a sigh, Harry pulled out his wand. He felt hesitant to show the ninjas his own brand of magic. A lifetime of keeping to the Statute of Secrecy tugged his brain into anxiety, even if that law was part of a different universe entirely.

Actually, now that he was grabbing hold of that emotion, it did not seem to be entirely his own. There was practically a beam of trepidation and curiosity aimed at his back, the three ninja behind him a clear source of it. 

Harry cast the spell wordlessly, and with a tap of his wand to his temple the cave suddenly lighted up before him. He tucked his wand back in the pocket where he'd found it, and noticed the weight of leave almost immediately. Right. For a second there he had almost managed to forget he was the Master of Death!

With a quiet breath of laughter, he turned his attention back to the lives the mountain inhabited.

"Someone's coming towards us," he muttered, and saw Hound give a curt nod. There were three beings approaching. On further observation, Harry could see that the three lives would not continue past the next few minutes.

Harry held up three fingers.

Seconds later Monkey tugged him backwards. Harry almost forgot to follow the motion, but managed to stop himself from sliding through the man's fingers entirely. He ended up at the back of the group as the team of four moved in unison.

The lives were snuffed out before they could even start to defend themselves. An older person with a white porcelain mask lost their head in one clean slice of Cat's sword; of the two younger ones, one had their nose pushed into their head with a simple punch from Monkey, and the other got Hound's long knife thrust into their neck.

Reapers claimed them, and the team continued walking.

He had been somewhat off on his estimate of their remaining lifetime. Harry considered this for a moment before he discarded it as meaningless. Dead was dead, after all.

"So, what are we aiming for here anyway?" Harry asked, his voice at a normal volume. There was nobody close by.

Hound turned his head, and regarded him like he was part of a puzzle box.

\---

Kakashi had times when he acted properly respectful to the village leader. He also had times when he considered his inquiry or information more important than protocol.

Like today. He knew the Hokage had been in meetings all day, and he knew that the man might still be in one. Despite this, he did not wait to be admitted into the office before bursting in.

"Hokage-sama," he greeted as he strode into a kneeling position in front of the desk. The Sandaime looked more tired than Kakashi had seen him in a long while, and no wonder. If a grain of what Kakashi had heard was actually reality, he truly pitied the man for the amount of work ahead of him.

"Kakashi-kun," the Hokage responded, and Kakashi heard clear the warning in that tone. Even so, he barged on.

"I hear that Danzo has committed treason against the village," he stated. Glancing up, he took the raised brows of the Sandaime as a bid to continue. "I wish to know what you intend to do about Root, Hokage-sama."

With a sigh, Sarutobi waved for him to stand. Kakashi did, standing straight and at attention.

"It has not been decided yet, as there are procedures before a man such as Danzo can be declared guilty. But yes, he did." There was a pause, as the old man rubbed his brow.

Kakashi knew how bad it must have been, for Sarutobi's hand to have been forced on this matter. The man had willfully ignored any other case that Kakashi had brought up on Danzo. Orchestrating the massacre of an entire clan was apparently enough that the matter couldn't simply be thrown aside. 

He couldn't help but feel vicious satisfaction that the point had finally been reached, despite what had been lost as a result.

"On the matter of Root... What do you believe is best?"

It took effort to keep the surprise off his face. Kakashi knew what he had expected: with Danzo gone, Root was a wild card the village couldn't afford. Gathering the village's ANBU forces and obliterating any life found inside the Root headquarters was what Kakashi would have _expected_. What he wanted was a different matter entirely.

Kakashi let an appropriate amount of thoughtful silence go by before he replied. "Kinoe was proof that Root operatives can become useful shinobi of the village. I would like to take a team and retrieve anyone willing to leave Root behind."

"And the rest? The ones who attack you on sight, or who have specific orders in the case of Danzo's demise? They are loyal to Danzo first, village second, and if they know he's being detained..." Sarutobi said, trailing off meaningfully.

Feigning indifference, Kakashi shrugged. "We won't be able to save everyone. Some are simply too entrenched. But giving up on them before we know whether they can be rehabilitated or not, it would be a waste."

The Hokage nodded, and Kakashi decided to push his last argument forwards.

"There is also supposed to be several clan children who are operatives. If they are returned to their families, you know the clans will be grateful."

As Kakashi had predicted, Sarutobi gave in. Kakashi was allowed to take his team to retrieve any operatives and trainees who they could get out without casualty to themselves.

"Oh, and Kakashi-kun. I have a sensor you can bring with you."

Kakashi blinked. A sensor? He had not been aware the corps had anyone particularly talented in sensing chakra.

"This man is a new subject of the village, and I want you to take the opportunity to test him as well. He is untested, and does not have a rank either in or outside of the village. However, Uchiha Itachi was not able to touch him, and Inoichi could not access his mind at all. I trust you will treat him with caution, and find a way to make use of him."

That... That was impossible. A person whose mind Inoichi couldn't penetrate? Someone who could beat Itachi? The second would have been improbable, seeing as how little could stand against Itachi's sharingan. To be immune to the effects of mind jutsu as well...

Sarutobi held out a folder, and Kakashi received it without looking. He would have more than enough time to peruse it later.

"He has been told to meet you at midnight."

Kakashi's brain stuttered for half a second, the meaning of that sentence tumbling around for a while before he could cobble together an answer. The Sandaime's expression was just a tinge too satisfied.

"Of course, Hokage-sama."

On the way home, he pondered the meeting. The Hokage had completely pulled his leg. All through the meeting, and Kakashi had thought he would have to trick the old man into agreeing with him.

_Cunning geezer,_ he thought, shaking his head. He glanced down at the classified folder in his hand. 

He'd better figure out what the Hokage was really aiming for with this. If there was one thing Kakashi disliked, it was being taken unawares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes Harry is totally that old gramps who would tell anyone who’s listen «I lived through more than a hundred years and three wars! You should listen to me if you know whats best for you!!» 
> 
> Thank you guys so much for the lovely comments you’ve been leaving! They have really been driving my writing forwards. :D


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A NOTE ABOUT GRAMMAR THAT HAS NO IMPORTANCE TO THE STORY ITSELF:  
> After careful consideration, I have decided to use the letter ō. This chapter is the first time I do so in this story, and these are the reasons:  
> 1\. It has the right sound. It annoys me to write Danzou or Kou. So I've been writing it as Danzo, but that simply doesn't have the right sound in my head. So from now on it will be Danzō.  
> 2\. It looks better. I just really like the look of that ō. *shrug*
> 
> Another thing: On the using of japanese versus english words.  
> You'll probably notice in this chapter in particular that I keep switching between english and japanese words for certain things, especially titles (honorifics). The reason for this is the POV. In Harry's POV the words come through as gramps instead of jiji, captain instead of taichou. If I suddenly don't keep to this, please fault my flawed existence.
> 
> (I am not a japanese speaker of any sort. Lots of this stuff is probably wrong. I'm not gonna let that stop me)
> 
> Juuichi means Eleven. You'll probably understand who he is after a while (or immediately, hah).

\---

Joining ANBU had been strangely anti-climatic, at least for Kō. Any ninja and civillian who wasn't in the corps spoke of ANBU with awe, stories circulating on the wild missions of assassination and spying and taking down shady organizations. They were the Hokage's hands and ears and eyes, reaching far beyond the village borders.

After Kō had joined, he hadn't gone on a single mission out of the village since the Uchiha had started getting rowdy.

He'd been on a few missions on foreign soil before that, but they had all been dull affairs. Carrying secret correspondence, finding people but not doing anything about them, that sort of thing. The most exciting thing that had happened had been when a kid in Suna had attacked one of his team members. Of course, the only course of action had been to disengage. No killing brats in allied villages.

And now he was stuck on Kyuubi duty. Absolutely fantastic. As if he hadn't made his distaste of these kinds of missions well known, and as if the Captain didn't know exactly how much he loathed the kid.

Yet here he was, together with three other ANBU, trying to figure out how one old man could possibly garner this many operatives.

The man was currently tidying up Uzumaki's place like he wasn't sharing an apartment with a demon that could rip him apart with a thought. Kō scoffed.

"I can hear your thoughts from here. Shut up and practice some meditation before I kick your ass," one of his teammates grumbled. Kō would have told Nezumi just where she could stick her meditation, but a motion caught his attention.

Was that... Was the old guy waving at them?

"He can't possibly see us," another of his teammates muttered from where he was crouched behind a spire. Kō was currently sitting on a window, which showed nothing behind it except an old storage space. The only thing that could see him in there was the spiders.

The old man made a 'come hither' motion with his hand. He seemed to be staring straight at the team lead.

"I think he's waving at you Hato," Nezumi said. Kō took some amount of satisfaction in how her voice was hesitant. _Where's your bravado now?_

Hato nodded and motioned at her. The two of them moved fluidly down from the tall building, across rooftops until they came to the window the old man was waving from.

He had been following them with his eyes the entire time.

"Fuck, that's creepy as hell," Kō muttered. He heard Usagi snort from somewhere close by. He didn't bother looking for the dude. If Usagi wanted to be unseen, there was no way in hell Kō would be able to find him.

A short time later, Hato and Nezumi shunshined back.

"Washi," Hato said, and Kō leapt to attention, "go buy these things."

Kō stared at the list he was handed with disbelief. _What?_

It took him an entire minute of staring at the strange handwriting before he looked back up at the team lead. "Are you serious?"

He was certain he didn't imagine the smug aura accompanying Hato's shrug.

"He asked you to go shopping for him? And _you said yes_?"

Hato tilted his head. "He made a very compelling argument."

Waiting for more details proved unfruitful. Kō could have whined more, could have protested getting sent on a D-rank mission as part of his ANBU duties, but he knew it wouldn't help his case. Hato would have been able to say in his report that ANBU operative Washi didn't obey orders, and should probably not be sent on more _challenging_ missions.

Fuming, Kō leapt from his position on the window. He let his body fall towards the ground, doing a kawarimi at the last moment to stop his descent. Then he strode out of the side alley he had landed in.

Perhaps he should retire from ANBU to become an academy teacher. Sure would be more exciting than his current mission load.

\---

The old man kept motioning for them, or talking to them, or gesturing at them like it was apparent as a brick on a road where they were.

Kō could tell that it was freaking his team out. Even having read the dossier on the geezer, being a sensor didn't explain how he knew even where Usagi was, when the operative being well known in the corps for the ability to erase his presence entirely. He would have thought the Byakugan was the only explanation, except that the man's eyes were green, and no veins proved the activation of any all-seeing eyes.

It might be a bloodline limit. Actually, it was almost certainly a bloodline limit. These things didn't just pop up on random. They always came from somewhere, whether it was tied to family, or to the giant chakra beast sealed into your body.

Entertaining the idea of the latter was making Kō sick to his stomach. One demon was more than enough; two, and he might have to become a missing-nin. Especially if they _kept putting him on this damn mission_.

The only bright spot to it all was that the geezer had apparently decided to move in with Itachi. Kō would forever cherish the picture in his mind of Itachi's baffled face. The arrogant bastard deserved it, probably.

He would have felt pity for his former teammate, except that he was fairly certain the whole massacre had happened because Kyuubi Attack 2.0 was in the works. Kō imagined that Itachi, being as skilled as he was, had managed to get away with his brother when he figured out his clan was getting terminated.

Why would the Hokage have ordered a massacre, after all, if the rumors weren't true? The Uchiha were the ones responsible for the Kyuubi attack, Kō was certain of it.

And if he still felt a bit sorry for Itachi, well, Kō knew how it felt to loose all those you loved to a force you couldn't possibly fight. He could feel compassion for a kid who had lost everything, even if he didn't like Itachi as a person.

\---

Today was Thursday, and as such the day started with training.

Every day other than Friday started with training. Training that day consisted of running. So Juuichi ran. His bare feet made no sound against the cave floor, and he wound his way through turn after turn together with all the other children. Juuichi knew the route well, had run it so often he knew the turns even in the dark. The younger kids had to fumble a bit, and he resisted the temptation to pull them along. He'd get punished if he was too slow. They wouldn't. The math was easy, and Juuichi ran.

After running came breakfast. The meal was similar to the one they'd eaten the day before, though it had lost some taste. Juuichi didn't particularly like the dish to begin with, but he ate in silence.

Next on the day's schedule was taijutsu. On several occasions Juuichi was just a bit too slow, moving just slightly wrong, and he was punished accordingly. His trainer hit nerves with pinpoint precision, and Juuichi bit back a scream because it wouldn't help. He breathed heavily, trying to control the pain as he backed away. His trainer didn't let him have the space, instead coming forward with a punch that he didn't manage to avoid either. His arm hung limp, and he grimaced to keep the tears at bay.

"Enough," resounded in the large cavern, and all motion stopped at once. Everyone stood at attention, despite bruised skin and pained expressions. Juuichi stood straight like all the others, wiping his face of the proof of his failure. His arm still hung by his side, and he knew it wasn't going to be mobile for the next few hours.

"Operatives, with me," the voice said. Juuichi distantly recognized the person as one of their Leader's personal guards. It _was_ somewhat strange that Danzō-sama wasn't overseeing them today. Then again, it was only Thursday. Tomorrow he would be there for sure.

The rest of the day went in the same manner. Juuichi wasn't very good at keeping focus today, but tried his best so that he wouldn't be punished too severely. Still he'd expected a reprimand.

The thing was just, many of the trainers had gone somewhere, and the rest seemed more intent on keeping them going than teaching them anything. Juuichi kept glancing at them, and they never even told him to stop or to mind his own business.

Supper went, and in theoretical lessons they learnt about plants. Juuichi drew them out meticulously, and felt pride that his drawings were among the best.

Then they were sent to their rooms. Juuichi went to his chamber, eager to tell Shin about the strangeness of the operatives' behavior.

He waited, and Shin didn't show. Usually he came in late, especially if he was just back from a mission. Shin wasn't supposed to have a mission today. He was supposed to be teaching the kids that were closer to mission age than Juuichi was.

Juuichi waited on his cot, clutching his notebook to his chest and wondering if Shin would like how he'd drawn the plants. Shin was the one who usually encouraged Juuichi, who told him to keep drawing even when the teachers didn't order him to. Shin had even sneaked him some extra ink so that he wouldn't get caught having used more than he supposed to.

The sound of sleeping surrounded him on all sides, his fellow operatives in training taking the moment to rest. Juuichi felt his eyelids drooping, and roused himself several times before he fell asleep fully.

It was still dark in the chamber when he woke. For a moment he was disoriented. It was painful to look around due to the position he had fallen asleep in, and it took him some time to notice there was someone beside him.

"Otōto," Shin whispered, not louder than a breath. "Hide!"

That single word brought him to awareness. Juuichi jumped up from the bed, then ran silently out of the room. Shin had already disappeared somewhere, and he felt his heart hammering in his chest as he went. He tried to think. Hide, hide. Where would be the best place to hide?

Certainly not back in the room, where any enemy would target the sleeping kids. Though, perhaps he was the only one in danger. Shin hadn't warned the rest. Perhaps the trainers had seen his bad performance after all, and decided to terminate him? It wasn't that long since one of the children Juuichi shared a room with had disappeared from their bed at night. No one explained, and nobody asked. They weren't supposed to ask questions unless it was part of a mission, after all.

Juuichi determined that one of the weapon rooms would be a good place to hide. He thought he was still small enough to hide behind one of the larger shelves, and if someone found him he would have all the weapons at his disposal.

He made it there, the darkness around him mattering little with his familiarity of the tunnels. His feet carried him silently over to the shelf. The cavity was where he remembered it, a spot where the rocky wall behind the wooden shelf was slightly concave. Getting in was a challenge; Juuichi had to use chakra on his hands to get a grip on the back board of the shelf, and then slide himself in from the side. There was only just enough space, his head squeezed between the rock and the wood, his knees scraping against the boards. Just in case, Juuichi tested how well the shelf held in place. It was heavy, and did not move as he pushed against it. Good. It would not just randomly topple if he moved wrongly.

Then the waiting started. Juuichi knew he might have to stay here a while. He tried to meditate, but the adrenaline kept his mind at a clutter. When he started to relax, the sleepiness came.

Juuichi fought to stay awake. He tried to play games in his head, to occupy his mind with lessons or with imagined art. Even so,his eyes were drawn closed more and more frequently, until he finally nodded off.

The sound of voices woke him.

"There's one in here," one of the voices uttered, not bothering with keeping silent. They must be confident, to walk around making themselves known like that.

Juuichi tensed where he stood. He had grabbed a couple of kunai on the way to the shelf, but it felt painfully inadequate against an unknown enemy. It could be one of his teachers, and then he would be hard pressed to win. It could also be foreign forces. If they had been sent to take down Root, or perhaps the entirety of Konoha, they must be _good._

Even so he readied himself to leap out the moment the shelf was moved. The only ways to win this would be surprise and luck, and Juuichi wasn't one to rely on the latter.

He saw the shelf start moving. It went out from the wall with one great movement, and Juuichi leapt.

His attack went towards the first person he saw. The man didn't even look armed, but Juuichi quickly discovered why: as he stabbed towards the figure, his kunai went straight through the man's body. No resistance.

As one of the other combatants reached for him, Juuichi took a chance. He jumped forwards, straight towards the person he had stabbed. Just like the knives, his body went right through. Coming out on the other side meant that the door was wide open. Juuichi went for it, pushing his legs to the limit in order to reach that opening before they could stop him.

He ran into someone, his face knocking into a chestplate. Then he was being held, disarmed of his knives and laid against the floor. It went so fast he couldn't even attempt to work against it, to twist away. His arms were pulled behind his back, his breath restrained by the weight on top of him.

"Root is being disbanded, operative. You either come with us without resistance, or you die."

The words came from the person on top of him, and the order was clear. What wasn't as clear was which of the choices would actually lead to Juuichi's death.

It could be a test. If it was, then choosing the first option would get him "dismissed". Then again, it could also be argued that he should go with them, assess the situation, see if he could do something to aid Root from the inside of wherever they were taking him.

In the face of that, the choice was simple enough.

Juuichi inclined his head in a nod, and the weight immediately disappeared off his back. He pulled in a grateful breath and got his legs underneath him again.

There were three figures standing close to him, all equipped with the same type of porcelain mask that the Root operatives used. They were Konoha ANBU.

Or that was what they were supposed to look like, anyway. Juuichi still wasn’t certain that this was anything but a test, but meekly followed behind one of the operatives as they motioned him to.

Juuichi had expected them to ask him questions. About the layout, perhaps, or about what kind of operatives they could expect ahead. They didn’t, and Juuichi counted it as another point towards them being Root. They moved with a surety that should only come to someone who had moved through the tunnels before.

Sending a glance backwards, Juuichi saw that the old man and the operative who had been in the weapons room were also following.

"Three are moving through the base at a fast pace. The rest are still," the old man’s voice broke the silence. Anxiety churned in Juuichi’s gut: still could mean a lot of things. They could be sleeping. They could also be dead.

_Look for information_ , the memory of one of his instructors ordered. Juuichi remembered the lesson the order was given in, one of the many they'd had on the art of infiltration and seeking out knowledge.

He'd liked the thought of those missions. If only for a short period of time, Juuichi could become someone else. Someone more than a number, someone more like the stories Shin told him.

"What are you going to do to the rest?" he said, even if it might not be the question he was supposed to ask. There was a feeling there, stress, anxiety, that things were going to change. That he would loose Shin.

He pushed the feeling away forcefully, blanked his face of all emotion. It was simply too dangerous to show such things, especially in front of unknowns. Especially when they could be gauging his every move to see if he was doing what he was supposed to.

The lessons had never mentioned what would happen if Root got overtaken.

"Anyone who comes with us without struggle will be taken into ANBU custody," the operative at the front said. Juuichi nodded. They were walking through the tunnels, not running as ANBU might. It was just another thing to add to the list of things that didn't make sense about the situation.

They came upon the room that Juuichi had slept in just hours before. He stayed outside as one of the ANBU went into the sleepchamber. Juuichi was surprised when the entirety of his year group came out after the operative.

"Are these most of them, or is there more?" the operative asked. For a moment, Juuichi thought he was the one being questioned.

A voice sounded behind him, the same that he had heart from behind the shelf.

"Oh, this isn't even a quarter of them. We have at least a hundred more ahead of us. Though some seem to be dying."

Juuichi froze. He could see the other children do so as well, and they all made certain to not glance at each other. Not to panic. Yet he felt a need to _run_ , to go help, to see if Shin was okay.

He stayed still, deathly so, restraining the urge with every bit of strength that he had. Running off was against everything he'd ever been taught. He _couldn't._

The operatives had frozen as well. Then the one in the lead pulled in a breath.

"Monkey, with me. Tiger, bring the children to the holding rooms and return here. Cat, Hatsune, keep making your way inward and collect everyone who's willing to come." The operative paused. "Cat. Don't let anything happen to him. If in doubt, terminate your opponents."

With that the operative in charge and the operative named Monkey disappeared. Cat pulled Hatsune along. Juuichi let his eyes linger on the old man before he started following Tiger.

The group walked silently behind the ANBU. Juuichi idly wondered if any of the other children had a plan. They were taught to follow orders, so perhaps not.

As they were closing in on the part Juuichi had never been to before, he could see Tiger suddenly tense in front of him. "Get back!" the operative shouted before he dashed forward. He drew his sword from its sheath, and in the darkness of the caves Juuichi could see that it was glowing with chakra. Juuichi could just barely spot three figures approaching. He channeled chakra to his eyes to better see them. They were not familiar to him, but carried the masks associated with Root.

Only because he had enhanced his eyesight could Juuichi see that one of the operatives threw a kunai their way. There was something attached to it.

Juuichi hurled himself backwards and formed hand seals. _Ram_ - _Boar_. He slammed into the other children as he leapt away. They were pushing him away, their necks craning in order to observe the fight. _Ox-Dog_. He drew all his focus onto a single stone, one that he'd brushed his foot against on the way there. _Snake_. With a strong pull at his meager chakra, Juuichi replaced himself with that rock.

For a moment, there was no other sound than his hurried breath. Then there was clashing of metal.

A cough. Another. More and more joined the first, great hacking gasps, the sound of children emptying their guts onto stone floors.

Juuichi ran. He knew he shouldn't. If Root wanted him to die, then he _should_ slit his throat himself.

He didn't. He just ran and ran, disappearing into the dark of the seemingly endless roots throughout Konoha's core.

\---

"You're not a civillian," Hound told him, and his tone wasn't as accusing as it perhaps should have been. Just matter-of-fact.

"Did you really think the Hokage would send a civillian on this kind of mission?" Harry returned. The answer was of course _yes, yes he would_ , but Hound didn't need to know that.

Actually...

"Actually, I _am_ technically a civillian," Harry shot in before Hound could reply. Harry felt like he could see a frown on the painted mask. Frowning Dog. It sounded like a yoga pose.

They were currently in the hospital. Hound was among the injured, but had made no motion to join his team in the check-ups after he'd come back from reporting to the Hokage. Instead he was sitting in the waiting rooms with Harry.

Harry, who was the only one who _wasn't_ hurt. That might have been what tipped Hound off that he at least wasn't a _normal_ civillian.

"You don’t react when seeing people die," Hound said, as though he’d read Harry’s mind.

His gaze trailing over to the blazing fires of the ANBU team’s lives, none of them ending today, Harry shrugged.

"Death happens," Harry said. He felt like he was repeating himself. Hadn’t he had that same conversation earlier that day?

Hound hummed, and fell silent. It didn’t sound like agreement.

There was a stretch of no conversation. The only sounds around them were that of a hospital at work and the subdued conversation from the few other inhabitants of the waiting room. Hound was the first to break the quiet.

"How far does your sensing reach? Can you see into the caves, even from where we sit?" Hound’s voice is a feigned indifferent. Harry contemplated not answering, but felt it didn’t matter much either way.

"If I try, yes. There are still a few children left alive in there."

The ANBU’s expressionless mask turned towards him. There was definitely something displeased in the gaze that he couldn’t quite see through the dark eyeholes.

"How many?"

Harry counted. "Five. One is moving, the rest are still."

"Still as in dead?"

He shook his head. "Their lives don’t seem to be in danger. Not even for the one running. The running one is moving out of my vision," Harry said, though he discovered it was a lie. If he focused on it, on that dot of life that would extend far beyond today, he could follow it even out of the village.

For all Harry knew, it wasn’t even in the caves anymore. It might already have made it into the forests beyond.

He wasn’t familiar enough with the scenery around here to tell.

Hound nodded. "Do you know if Tiger is still alive? Or is he dead on a table?" There was definitely something strained about how Hound was talking. Not the tone, which was carefully bland. More what was behind it.

"He’s fine. He’s going to live beyond today."

While it might have sounded like empty comfort, Harry could see the tenseness of Hound’s shoulders lessen.

Hound was clearly a team leader who cared about his comrades. Perhaps even about the children they had gone to retrieve, despite how quickly the man had struck some of them down.

Harry found that he liked Hound, despite knowing next to nothing about the man himself. So he accompanied the operative as he waited. He observed the people passing by, and Hound was still, only his breathing to show he was still alive.

It took three hours for all of the team to be either discharged or officially admitted to a room. By that time the sun was creeping up on the sky, bathing the waiting room in an atmospheric yellow light.

Three hours, and Harry was fairly certain he could recognize all of the people who were in the hospital by lifeline, if not by face. Three hours, and he had closely examined Hound's life, how it flashed and dimmed and flashed again, stretching far ahead and growing brighter as it did. Harry had no idea how to read the inflections of the light, but it was still interesting to discover how the light seemed to have a will of its own, ever pulling towards a finish line.

Three hours, and Hound looked absolutely dead on his feet.

"Going home to sleep?" Harry asked, and caught Hound flinching. The mask turned to face him, and Harry had a feeling the man had entirely forgotten his presence there.

"... I suppose," Hound replied.

"Well, if you're up for some breakfast you could come with me," Harry offered. Hound stared at him. Harry was sure he was being searched for an intention, for some reason he'd offer a stranger a place to eat.

Then again, were you really strangers after sharing this kind of a mission?

There was a change in Hound's posture. He slumped, almost, leaning back in the chair with his shoulders turned inward. "Ah, are you asking me out Hatsune-san?"

His brows rose involuntary at the change in pace. _Oh?_

"I am afraid you're a bit young for me. Also, I think Itachi might actually lose his mind if I bring a date to his home," Harry chuckled.

There was a beat before the answer, like Hound might have been about to answer differently. "Well then, I'll be happy to accept your invitation."

\---

Harry was surprised and resigned to find Itachi awake when he came back to the apartment. The boy had dark lines under his eyes, but had that sort of tired countenance that probably meant he'd at least caught a few minutes of shut-eye before he got up again. Currently the teen was sitting by the table, a collection of documents spread out in front of him.

"Good morning!" Harry greeted as he entered, Hound at his heels.

Itachi's gaze went to him, over to Hound, then settled on him again. "Good morning Hatsune-san. Hound-taichou."

Hound sidled into the place like he was lingering somewhere between feigned nonchalance and the instinctive need to flee. "Yo."

Then Hound took off his mask.

Itachi looked like he was tempted to run over and cover the admittedly still masked face of Hound. Instead he just tensed, his gaze flickering between them.

"Relax, Itachi-kun. Hatsune-san would know who I was the moment he saw me on the street. Wouldn't you?" Hound questioned, his one visible eye staring steadily at Harry.

Harry shrugged.

"Well, yes. But that goes for most of the village by now," he retorted.

He went over to the fridge, starting to assemble something that would work for breakfast. Eggs and potatoes and fish, perhaps? It was so strange, how there wasn't a single piece of bread or box of cereal around. Harry stared at the big bag of rice for a moment, then figured sure, why not.

As things cooked and fried and in general became edible, Harry glanced back at the two ninjas to see that Hound had moved over to the table. The two of them were discussing something in hushed tones.

Harry decided not to pry. Not that he would have been able to, at least without being discovered. He was certain it would take a bit more than some extendable ears to eavesdrop on these people.

As the food was nearing done, Harry heard the sound of a door opening. Naruto's head peeked out, his big blue eyes staring intently over at the stove. Harry grinned, and started taking out plates.

"Good morning Naruto," he said. Naruto looked over at him before he started creeping out of the doorway. He closed the door with a small click, seeming to take extra care to not rattle the door handle as he did so.

"Mornin gramps!" Naruto greeted, and Harry made sure not to flinch at the volume of it. He assumed Sasuke would be up soon enough.

"You hungry?" Harry teased, as the kid's eyes had changed target right away after greeting him.

Naruto nodded. He bounced on his feet as he stared into the pan.

"Well, go wash up and take a place at the table. It's soon done."

The kid was a whirlwind of yellow hair and borrowed blue clothes as he went for the bathroom. Harry hummed to himself as he placed out plates for them all. There was only just enough space for all five of them at the table.

Naruto came back quickly, his face and hands still dripping water as he eagerly took a seat. As he did, he took notice of Hound.

"Who're you!?"

With a chuckle Harry walked over to Sasuke's bedroom. He gave the door a knock. "Breakfast is ready!" he called.

Soon they were all seated at the table, Sasuke looking like he was still asleep where he sat. Naruto, in contrast, was already bouncing and tapping his feet and asking Hound questions.

Hound, who had introduced himself as Kakashi.

"What kinda missions d'you do? Have you saved any princesses? Is your hair gray because you were cursed when you were little?"

Harry took mercy on the ANBU, who looked just a little bit overwhelmed. He started piling fish and potatoes and rice onto Naruto's plate. The boy's attention was immediately diverted, and Kakashi's shoulders relaxed from where they had been approaching his ears.

Sasuke slowly opened his eyes, taking small pieces of food and chewing those bites for a long time. Itachi ate carefully, measured. Kakashi didn't seem to eat at all, until Harry realized that his previously filled plate was empty. Naruto devoured the food like he hadn't eaten in a week, periodically seeming to realize what he was doing and glancing at the others in uncertainty. No one remarked on it, and Naruto easily ended up eating at least double of what everyone else ate.

Harry found that the whole thing felt like eating with family, even if most of the people at the table hardly knew each other.

\---

Kō was shocked. He knew that the others on his team were also staring at the door where Inu had entered the apartment complex, completely baffled.

What was he doing here? What connection did he have with Hatsune Haru? And according to the night guard rotation Hatsune had been out all night, leaving the Kyuubi container behind.

Very little made sense. Just what was going on inside that apartment? Was this something the captain and Itachi had planned beforehand?

There were so many questions. The temptation to just barge into the apartment was a bit too strong. Kō clenched and relaxed his fists, glaring at the shuttered windows of the apartment.

"Tori," Hato's voice said behind him. Kō whipped around; without him noticing, the operative Tori had appeared next to their group.

"You're needed at the tower. All ANBU are being assembled, though one of you has to stay here."

Something was happening. Kō jumped to his feet. Hato glanced at him, and for a moment he feared he'd be left behind. Again.

"Nezumi, you stay. Washi, go and tell Inu before joining us at the tower."

_Yes!_ He was being included in the action!

There was a tense moment where the team nodded as one, before they all went their own directions. Kō moved towards the apartments, eager for battle and also feeling vindicated that he was actually getting a look at what was going on inside. Finally things were happening. It was going to be a good day. He could _feel_ it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for all your comments! They truly make my world a brighter place, and I love reading all your thoughts and feelings!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> If you want to interact more with me, talk about fics or fandoms or just see what other kinda stuff I make, feel free to peruse [my twitter](https://twitter.com/Ellesra1)!


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